The World Health Organisation, WHO, has said that countries have finalised a draft global agreement, aimed at improving how the world prepares for and responds to pandemics.
The WHO said that the agreement marks a historic step that will be submitted to the World Health Assembly in May for adoption.
The UN health agency, in a statement on Wednesday, said that the agreement was developed after more than three years of negotiations under the auspices of the WHO.
According to the agency, the draft outlines a framework for strengthening international collaboration, equity and resilience in the face of future global health threats.
Remarking on the agreement, WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus said the nations of the world made history in Geneva today
“In reaching consensus on the Pandemic Agreement, not only did they put in place a generational accord to make the world safer.
“They have also demonstrated that multilateralism is alive and well and that in our divided world – nations can still work together to find common ground and a shared response to shared threats,”; the DG said.
Recall that negotiations began in December 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when WHO member States agreed on the urgent need for a legally binding international instrument and established the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, INB.
The process involved 13 formal rounds of negotiations, many of which were extended into the early hours, culminating in Wednesday’s consensus after a final overnight session.
